I have some loose skin right at the top of my thigh, it gets pinched/rubbed to the point where I had a small hole and lots of breakdown of the skin.I had a skinny racing seat which I have changed to a brooks B17 and wear quality bike shorts with padding. I also use a chamois cream.

After bout 6-8km I can feel it rubbing raw. It is frustrating because I want to ride further but after 15km it's so painful I just want to get off. I am going to change the saddle back as I got the brooks at the same time as I changed to bike shorts. The shorts/brooks did make it better but still far from great.

I sometimes suffer from a less severe version of this - I find ensuring my bib shorts are pulled up high and tight in the area so that if anything rubs it is lycra on lycra and not my skin thats rubbing. Putting a capful of dettol in with the wash when washing bib shorts helps as well as a tea tree oil soap, as this means that any abraised skin in the area doesnt get angry over time. I also take a moment after getting settled to ensure my area is well comfortable in the saddle.

Question - do you go commando in your bike shorts? this is highly recommended if not as any layers of material will only serve to worsen discomfort.

MikeyD360 wrote:I sometimes suffer from a less severe version of this - I find ensuring my bib shorts are pulled up high and tight in the area so that if anything rubs it is lycra on lycra and not my skin thats rubbing...

Agree that tight fitting quality bib shorts will benefit. A narrow racing saddle will also help, as it'll "split" the two parts. Commando and dryness will all help while you wait for the body to "resorb" the redundancy.

I do go commando, I used to do some racing when I was younger so know the basics. Will try the narrow seat tomorrow, see how that goes. Also sort out the bits a bit better. I am finding it really hard to stand and pedal, I know this gets the blood circulating and relieves pressure. I can stand and coast but when I pedal it feels like my legs are going to buckle, no confidence or something. Until I bought this bike I was riding old bikes where the chain used to skip so never stood, now it think it has ruined me.

Back in the day none of this was an issue and long rides were no issue, now anything over 10km gets painful. I really need to get this sorted so I can move on and start getting my weight under control. So drepressing when people considered you an elite athlete and now a 10km bike ride leaves me in so much pain.

After rides I do keep the area as dry as possible, lots of changing of clothes. There seems to be a weeping.

I can sympathise with this issue. Recently my working hours have been shifting to compensate for a project I am working on often meaning that time to ride has been scarce. That combined with a poor diet and sedentary job have seen my weight creep up to an unacceptable level. I encountered this issue and narrowed down the problem to saddle choice and poorly fitting knicks. Better fitting knicks and a return to an old favourite saddle saw the problem almost vanish overnight.

As for standing not feeling natural it will eventually. Just keep trying and split the weight more evenly over your feet and hands might help.

Be cautious with a narrow saddle as it may not give you the support you need. Look at a saddle of the correct width with a lot of "roll off" at the shoulder. Specialized Romin Evo, some Selle's etc. These support you sit bones but curve away sharply reducing the pressure in that area.